It was wonderful to see everyone who participated in our ‘Shared Leadership’ webinar earlier this month – helping us to explore what it is, what it involves and why you might want to do it. More than 40 people joined us from around the world, including Ireland, Zambia, India, Gambia and South Africa and we’re especially grateful to our speakers, Minke van Til (Co-Director at Ella’s) and Samson Hailu-Bekele (Co-CEO of Water for People), for their excellent case study insights.
During the webinar we considered some of the things that contribute to the success of shared leadership – including deep levels of trust and self-knowledge; collective commitment to, and responsibility for, a common purpose; the importance of diversity in skills, age, gender and background; willingness to learn and an openness to challenge and being challenged.
Alongside some of the potential benefits (such as improved decision making, generating a diverse pool of ideas and better health and wellbeing because leadership responsibilities are shared) we also considered some of the challenges – such as the time it can take to transition to a shared leadership approach and the potential for it to be more costly.
If you missed the webinar but would like to take a deeper dive you can view a recording of the webinar here and we hope that you can make the next one on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 12:00-13:30 UK time. Also, watch this space for a new Ripple Paper on Shared Leadership coming soon!
Deadline for applying to become a Caplor Horizons Trustee: 26th November 2023. There are just a few days left to apply to become a Caplor Horizons Trustee. We are seeking people from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds. Previous experience on a not-for-profit Board is not required, though such experience is always welcome. Applications from those based outside the UK are welcome and please do share this with anyone who might be interested. Click here for the application pack.
Shared leadership requires excellent communication, building trusting relationships and the ability to have challenging conversations when necessary. These are just some of the things that participants in our Emerging Leaders programme (pictured below) have been working on through our partnership with Refugee Action.
This month 20 people from 8 different organisations supporting refugees and asylum seekers, joined Lorna (Pearcey) and Rosie (Bishop) in Liverpool for the final two in-person modules in the programme. Over two days people engaged with various topics including developing a coaching and facilitation approach (using the Caplor Coaching Way) and having challenging conversations.
Participants learnt more about different responses to conflict resolution using the Thomas Kilman model. According to this model, there are five modes/conflict responses that can be assessed based on scales of assertiveness (how much we focus on our own needs during the conflict) and cooperativeness (how much we focus on other people's needs over our own during the conflict). They are:
Competing (assertive and uncooperative)
Accommodating (unassertive and cooperative)
Avoiding (unassertive and uncooperative)
Collaborating (assertive and cooperative)
Compromising (moderate in assertiveness and cooperativeness).
If you would like to find out more about the approach and model, click here.
Ian and Lorna are currently in Zambia where, amongst other work, they managed to catch up with the team from Edmund Rice Development Zambia Office. Clement (Sindazi), who also joined us for the Shared Leadership webinar, was highly appreciative of the support that Caplor Horizons had provided in helping to develop the Africa Province Strategic Framework – developed at the height of the COVID pandemic but continuing to guide their operations into 2024!
Change Maker of the Week
Quote of the week: “If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go together" African Proverb
Best wishes
Ian, Rosie, Lorna and Kemal